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Rufflet Line/BW
Rufflet is found in the following places: Route 10 single and double grass (30% in both), Route 11 (25%-postgame), Victory Road exterior (30%), and Village Bridge (20%-postgame) Braviary is found in the following places: Route 11 double grass (25%-postgame) and Village Bridge double grass (20%-postgame) Ah yes, Braviary, colloquially known as 'Murica Bird. It comes (and evolves) notoriously late in the game, but can come in handy if it ends up on your team. It gets useful Abilities and a much better movepool than your typical Normal/Flying bird, not to mention a great Attack stat to back it up. It is a version exclusive, though, so only players of White Version can use it without trading (a generally accepted, but not hard-and-fast, implicit rule). That aside, Braviary has a nice mix of positive traits that make it a good late-game addition to a Nuzlocker's team, although it doesn't fit any one team role (per our definitions) particularly well. Its late evolution might also make it impractical if you limit grinding and/or don't plan to do any post-game material. Important Matchups * Gym #8 - Iris (Opelucid City, Dragon-type): If you're challenging this Gym and have just added a Rufflet to your party, you may be eager to test out your little eaglet. That would be a huge mistake. All three of the opposing Pokemon (Fraxure, Druddigon, and Dragon Dance Haxorus) have base Attack stats that more than double Rufflet's measly base 50 Defense, and will not hesitate to use them. It cannot expect to tank in this Gym, and it'll have to take at least one hit thanks to its relatively low Speed. If it does get a chance to make a move, Rufflet can attempt to use either of its STABs (Slash or Aerial Ace), but is again out-stat-ed by all but Fraxure. Keep your birdie on the sidelines here, and grind in the grass knowing you will one day have a powerhouse. * Cheren (Route 10): His Unfezant is built to maximize crit-hax, which is something you don't want happening to your Rufflet. STAB Slash and/or TM-taught Rock Slide could do some damage , but the risk of death is very high and counterbalances that capability. The monkey (whichever he has based on starter) will have had its main STAB for a while by that point, which in the case of Simisear (in spite of Rock Slide) and Simipour is probably enough to say "NOPE." You probably have some answer for the monkey already anyway, given how many times you've had to face it to come this far. Rufflet does resist Seed Bomb, though, for you choosers of Snivy, and Simisage's next most threatening move is Fury Swipes (which can still kill if you're not careful). STAB Aerial Ace could serve you well in that battle. Liepard is kind of a no-go as well, because STAB Night Slash, especially a critical hit, on Rufflet's Defense is going to hurt a lot. Under no circumstances should you attempt to battle Emboar or Samurott with a Rufflet; their attacks are just too powerful. Serperior is marginally safer thanks to Rufflet's resistance to Leaf Blade and Giga Drain, but Slam will sting if it connects, especially after a Coil boost or two. STAB Aerial Ace is also not even close to a 3HKO due to Serperior's bulk. "Keep biding your time" is the mantra for this battle. * Elite Four Shauntal (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): If you've leveled appropriately, you should be a couple levels away from having or already have a Braviary; I'll be working under the assumption that you leveled for Ghetsis and have a Braviary. If you're still running Rufflet, good luck getting anything out of it in this gauntlet. You could also have taught your bird Shadow Claw by TM at this point, which would come in immensely handy here thanks to the line's immunity to Ghost attacks. Shadow Claw will deal super-effective damage to Shauntal's whole team, but a reasonable amount of caution is required. The first instance of this comes thanks to Cofagrigus's Will-O-Wisp and Mummy combination; losing Sheer Force is kind of a big deal for Braviary (not so much for Keen Eye, but it's still annoying)! In the vein of non-contact moves, Rock Slide is a powerful tool against Cofagrigus for any Braviary; the extra power is useful for Sheer Force users, and the flinch chance could come in handy for those with Keen Eye. As the final word on Cofagrigus, don't let your bird take a Psychic without healing, either; it will be two-shotted by consecutive normal hits and killed by a critical hit. Braviary has an innate advantage over Golurk in that it's immune to both of Golurk's STABs. It's entirely possible for Braviary to handle this matchup with a Flying STAB move or Shadow Claw, since Golurk's defenses aren't the greatest and Braviary can tank a Brick Break. Be careful of Curse and leaving it in on too many neutral hits, but the patriot bird has the advantage here. Jellicent has Cursed Body to mess with your moves, and a good power combination in Surf and Brine. You'll need to tread carefully with this one; it might be better to let something else handle Jellicent if you're unwilling or unable to keep Braviary healed up. If you're looking to switch in, try to bait a Shadow Ball or Energy Ball; Braviary can tank the latter and is immune to the former. Lastly, Shauntal packs a Chandelure, which knows Fire Blast, Psychic, and Payback in addition to the obligatory Shadow Ball and speed-ties with Braviary in terms of base stats. Despite being overleveled and having the advantage of EVs, Braviary will have serious trouble tanking Chandelure's special attacks, so it's probably not worth the risk to send it/leave it in for a Rock Slide. Something with better defensive capabilities is much better than Braviary here. As last-ditch contingency plans go, though, it's not a bad one at all. * Elite Four Marshal (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): This is the best matchup for Braviary in terms of raw type matchups. STAB Flying does a number on Marshal's team, even his lead Throh (which has a small chance to be OHKO'd by a non-critical Fly). The problem is, all of his Pokemon pack a Rock move. Throh, as alluded to previously, is guaranteed to be two-hit KO'd by either Aerial Ace or Fly. It sports Payback, which will achieve its damage-doubling condition against Braviary, and Stone Edge, a crit from which will kill a Braviary at evolution level. Risky play, but it could work (much like Caitlin's team). Sawk is in the same situation with Stone Edge, and has Sturdy to avoid being one-shotted by Fly. Aerial Ace is a guaranteed two-hit KO, so there's that. Once again, this is a very risky proposition that could easily go well or poorly. Feel like trusting Stone Miss? Marshal's Conkeldurr also packs Stone Edge, which poses the same risk of crits insta-killing Braviary. It's also only two-shotted by Fly, so there's even more risk in this matchup. Marshal's ace is a Mienshao, which packs a Rock Slide strong enough that a critical hit will (once again) guaranteed-kill Braviary in addition to having an annoying flinch chance that could put you in a stall war if it activates at the wrong time. Fly is a guaranteed OHKO, and Aerial Ace has a sizable chance to do the same; this is one of the safer matchups for Braviary in this battle. Another item worth noting is that all of Marshal's Pokemon except Throh have Retaliate, which will easily smash a weakened Braviary; be cautious as you would anyway in a Nuzlocke. * Elite Four Grimsley (Pokémon League, Dark-type): This is Braviary's first real chance to show off one of its coolest assets: Superpower. It's super effective against every last member of Grimsley's team, but don't overuse it, because the stat-lowering side effect makes it less effective each time (as well as nerfing Braviary in general). Against Scrafty, his lead, Braviary is a strong candidate to come out on top thanks to super-effective Flying STAB and greater Speed. Liepard is faster and knows Fake Out, but is laughably frail compared to Braviary's massive Attack, so either STAB, particularly a power move like Return, should suffice to take it out. Krookodile is at a disadvantage with its Ground STAB being ineffective against your bird, but it knows Foul Play, which could be disastrous. It's probably better to let something with lower Attack than Braviary do the work in this matchup. Bisharp, Grimsley's ace, is quad-weak to Superpower. Even at -1 Attack (from a prior use of Superpower or Krookodile's Intimidate), Superpower is guaranteed to one-hit-KO Bisharp, so smash it and move on. * Elite Four Caitlin (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): Caitlin's team is a good demonstration of Unova's collection of Psychic Pokemon. Her lead, a Reuniclus, is slow and bulky. The main concern, however, is that it knows Thunder. Keep your (Flying-type) patriot well away from that! If you're feeling lucky, Shadow Claw is guaranteed to two-hit KO this Reuniclus, but Braviary cannot tank a crit Thunder (a normal hit will likely take 70% or more of its health). Against her Musharna, Braviary can tank a couple of Charge Beams or Psychics and strike back with a potential two-hit KO Return (which is actually a better choice than Shadow Claw in this situation). If Braviary's taken prior damage, you'll definitely need to be ready to switch or heal, but it can do well against Musharna. Caitlin will also be packing a Sigilyph, which carries Ice Beam. As with Reuniclus, a critical-hit Ice Beam is guaranteed to kill a level 54 Braviary; play this with caution. In exchange, Braviary is guaranteed a two-hit KO with Shadow Claw, Return (maximum damage output), or Rock Slide (with or without Sheer Force). So, just like with Reuniclus, Braviary is a risky choice, but with good payoff. Lastly, Caitlin's ace is a Gothitelle. It packs Thunderbolt in addition to Psychic, Shadow Ball (irrelevant), and Calm Mind. It's important that something take Gothitelle out quickly before it sets up too many Calm Mind boosts, and Braviary is certainly capable of doing that (note that a 2HKO is possible only with Return). However, this is yet another situation where a stray crit will kill your bird, so it needs to stay healed up to stand a chance. All in all, it's preferable that a different teammate handle this battle, especially if that Pokemon offers better defensive utility against these opponents, but Braviary can help your cause in this battle (particularly against Musharna). * Reshiram/Zekrom (N's Castle): Reshiram is fairly strong, but can be taken down with Rock Slide thanks to the Sheer Force boost, and it shouldn't be able to OHKO Braviary unless it uses its most powerful move and scores a lucky critical hit. Still, be ready to heal up if you need to. Zekrom has super-effective STAB, so no. * N (N's Castle): N leads with his dragon, and you will be forced to as well if you caught and partied the version mascot. If you sent the mascot to the box and had Braviary in the first slot, you may want to switch it out. Zekrom has Fusion Bolt if you're playing Black, and will outspeed and one-shot your bird. Reshiram can't quite do the same with Hyper Beam and/or Fusion Flare, but a critical hit from either of those spells death. In return, Braviary can only three-hit KO with Return; probably best to exploit type advantages and leave Braviary out of this. N will also be packing both Unova fossil Pokemon in their final form; Carracosta is only three-hit KO'd by Superpower (factoring in the stat drop) and has Stone Edge with a high likelihood of one-shotting poor Braviary. Stay away from that one. Archeops is guaranteed to one-shot Braviary with Stone Edge (if it connects) and is all but certain to outspeed. In return, Braviary is certain to knock it into Defeatist range with a single Rock Slide (the two-hit KO is guaranteed); it's probably not worth trusting your teammate's life to Stone Edge's accuracy, though. Team Plasma's king can also throw a Vanilluxe at you; if its Blizzard connects, you'll have a dead bird. Braviary can actually one-shot it with Superpower, but you'd be taking a tremendous risk (especially since there's a chance that these two Pokemon will Speed tie or that Vanilluxe will be straight-up faster). Somewhat surprisingly, Braviary can actually tank any non-critical attack- even a boosted Retaliate- from N's Zoroark with no risk of death (assuming it was at full health to begin with), and is also guaranteed to OHKO back with Superpower. The problem then becomes sorting out which Klinklang is actually Zoroark, and that's a riskier game than you might think. The real Klinklang on N's team carries Thunderbolt, which poses a significant risk to Braviary's life in the event of a critical hit or it getting a Metal Sound off. Meanwhile, Superpower is a guaranteed 2HKO, again including the stat drop. This is another risky play that could go well or poorly (especially since Klinklang will likely outspeed Braviary). Braviary can do some good in this battle, but beware; danger lurks everywhere. Play your bird wisely, and it will serve you well. * Ghetsis (N's Castle): Ghetsis will lead with a Cofagrigus with the annoying Toxic/Protect combination. That's the first thing any Nuzlocker should watch out for with this opponent. Fortunately, a single Full Restore will fix the issue for the time being. It also packs Shadow Ball and Psychic, but Braviary only cares about Psychic. Cofagrigus can't do any better than two-hit-KO Braviary (and that would be with consecutive crits), so you can blast away with Shadow Claw and/or Rock Slide (careful of Mummy shenanigans potentially depriving you of Sheer Force) for a nearly guaranteed 3HKO of your own. Ghetsis's Bouffalant, though, is another story entirely. It packs Wild Charge, which is super-effective and boosted by Reckless. A critical hit will kill your Braviary even if it's four levels higher, and the 2HKO is guaranteed. What's more, Return only has a small chance to two-shot Bouffalant. Therefore, it's probably better to leave Bouffalant to some other teammate. Team Plasma's real boss also packs a Seismitoad with Rain Dance and Swift Swim. In addition to the annoying problem of being outsped in rain, Muddy Water is a guaranteed 2HKO under those conditions. Return has about a 25% chance to two-shot in return, so it's another risky play. If you can switch in on an Earthquake or were in already when Seismitoad entered the field, you'll stand a better chance of coming out on top. Next on the list is a Bisharp; it can be easily one-shotted with Superpower. Just beware of this: it's possible you could Speed tie, and the opponent knows Stone Edge. EVs might truly make the difference here, if you put some in Speed. Numbers to shoot for are 24 (for neutral nature and a zero IV) or 104 (for -Speed nature with a zero IV) to guarantee you're faster. The fifth Pokemon Ghetsis will throw at you is an Eelektross, which Braviary really shouldn't be fighting because it is weak to Electric. Lastly, there's the infamous Hydreigon. Its most dangerous move to Braviary (barring critical hits) is Dragon Pulse, which is a guaranteed two-hit KO. Superpower is also a guaranteed 2HKO (with the stat drop), but there's a good chance you'll be outsped, which could be lethal. Pretty much nothing is safe from Hydreigon, but it might be better to have a sturdier defender for this fight. * Post-Game: Braviary continues to behave much like it did before the credits rolled in the postgame: a somewhat risky switch-in with great potential to smack things hard. Its STABs are always useful to have, and it gets a couple nice move options at high levels. Overall, while it probably won't be a true team cornerstone, Braviary can be a good addition to round out a team. Moves When you catch your Rufflet, it'll come packing different moves depending on where it was caught. Route 10 normal-grass Rufflet will have Scary Face, Aerial Ace, Slash, and Defog, whereas double-grass denizens could reach as high as Level 41, at which they'll have replaced the first two moves from the prior list with Air Slash and Tailwind. Victory Road Rufflet will start with Aerial Ace, Slash, Defog, and Tailwind. Crush Claw (level 46) is an upgrade in power with a side effect that either triggers Sheer Force or could help speed the process of KOing things. Sky Drop is pretty useless, and Rufflet doesn't learn any moves that Braviary can't, so evolve as soon as possible. Once you do get the majestic patriot bird, you'll want to head back to the Mistralton Move Relearner and grab Superpower; it's excellent coverage for Braviary, and a much-needed power move. The only other worthwhile level-up move for Braviary won't come before the postgame without truly excessive overgrinding, but Brave Bird is worth mentioning if you mean to battle Alder or Cynthia. In the world of TMs, it gets relatively few viable options, but they work well for it. Return is by far the best Normal STAB even for Sheer Force Braviary, so slap that on it as soon as you can. Rock Slide is also notable for activating Sheer Force and having solid coverage. Braviary can learn Fly, which is its most powerful Flying STAB before postgame, but it's really up to you; Aerial Ace doesn't do that much less than Fly in situations where a Flying move is called for. Shadow Claw is also an option for dealing with Shauntal and Caitlin, but it's a much more niche application of Braviary's talents. Speaking of niche options, Braviary can learn Work Up, but it's really not bulky or fast enough to be safe setting up like that. The other TMs it could make good use of, such as Bulk Up and U-Turn, are postgame. Recommended moveset: Return, Superpower, Rock Slide / Shadow Claw, Fly / Aerial Ace Other Rufflet's stats Braviary's stats * What Nature do I want? If you get a nature that boosts Attack or Speed, prepare to wreck some serious house. The thing is, Braviary is already somewhat frail. It really doesn't appreciate a drop in either defensive stat. Thus, the ideal natures for a Braviary are Adamant and Jolly. In more general terms, the most favorable stat to drop is Special Attack. It has varying degrees of success working around other natures, but -Speed or -Attack will make your life notably more difficult. * Which Ability do I want? Sheer Force is the best for the time of the game at which Rufflet appears. It boosts one of Braviary's most important coverage moves in Rock Slide, even if it doesn't really do much else. Not many things in the last leg of your journey carry accuracy-lowering moves, so Keen Eye is mostly dead weight. It's preferable to lose Keen Eye to Mummy than Sheer Force, though, so there is that. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? The most logical point at which to evolve Rufflet is immediately before challenging the Pokemon League. If you're grinding to Level 54 for the eighth Gym, you're either overdoing it or in seriously dire straits overall. If you want to get anything out of Rufflet in the endgame, though, it should definitely be evolved prior to entering the Pokemon League building (its bulk is puny unevolved, and a litany of things will outspeed and overpower the poor hatchling). * How good is the Rufflet line in a Nuzlocke? It's fairly mediocre, actually. It's less than stellar defensively and comes too late to really exert a force on the game as a whole. That said, it does have a very strong offensive presence and makes for a great late-game addition to just about any team needing a boost in that department. It's also pretty fun to nuke things with Superpower, and using Braviary after putting in all the work to evolve Rufflet feels great. It does need some team support to live up to its full potential, though, so its usefulness is firmly capped. * Weaknesses: Rock, Electric, Ice * Resistances: Bug, Grass * Immunities: Ground, Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Fire, Water, Fighting, Poison, Steel, Dark, Psychic, Flying, Dragon Category:Black/White Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses